Station 8 – An Urban Gem

I am so pleased with the design of our new Fire Station and the interior layout and amenities.

It is truly a gem.

It was designed by an architectural firm based in Oakland, Shah Kawasaki Architects. Alan Kawasaki is one of the principal architects. In the last few years this firm has designed eight local fire stations, all a bit different and all of them very distinctive. 

They have recently created Fire Stations for Napa, Milpitas, San Carlos, South San Francisco and Palo Alto. I especially like the station they created on the San Francisco waterfront for the fireboats. See their work here skarc.com.

The new Station 8 building is a model of efficiency, with every detail considered to create a comfortable, efficient space for the firefighting business. I was told they can go from bed to engine in just under two minutes! I was most impressed by the placement of the firepole, that traditional element of firehouses for more than a century.

The Station 8 fire pole is new, not old. The San Jose Fire Museum retains two of its original four firepoles, and I was told that one of the Saturday chores at the old firehouse was polishing the poles to make them as sleek as possible. The “invention” of the firepole reportedly comes from the South Side of Chicago, where the black firefighters from Station 21 developed the technique to save time and beat the clock back in 1878. 

Fire stations still compete for the honor of “First In” at a major event. Despite all the talk about potential injuries, it was interesting to see this antique piece of apparatus installed in a new station.

If you missed the ribbon-cutting ceremony last week, I hope we will have another Open House event soon. Today we have the second busiest station in San Jose with over 4,000 calls for service each year. For years we were Number One; it is good that we have some help these days. 

Fire Chief Sapien noted at the ribbon cutting ceremony that although he was born and raised in the neighborhood, he never had enough seniority to compete for one of the twelve slots at Station 8. Service at 8 is highly desired.

Thanks to all who helped build this for us. Completed on time, on budget and a tremendous asset to the neighborhood.